Gaming Evolution

Alberto Statti

It may surprise you to learn that video games are already over 50 years old. If you ask most people in the industry what the first video game was, the chances are that the majority would say Spacewar. It was a game developed in 1961 by a group of MIT students. While today’s video games can run on a small handheld device, Spacewar was designed to run on a big mainframe computer. Despite this, Spacewar helped start the market for the video games that were to follow.

1970s
The 1970s saw the arrival of the coin-operated video arcade game. It gave us games such as Asteroids and Space Invaders that the public could play. At the same time, the home console developed by companies like Atari came on to the market. It allowed people to connect the device to their TV to play what today would be thought of as simple games.

1980s
The 1980s was the era of the arcade games as they became widely available to the public. Some of the games today have their origins in the arcade games of that era. Games like ‘Pac-Man’ would become household names. As well as improved games consoles, the 1980s saw the appearance of the home PC on the market as another option for game playing. Towards the end, video games started to separate themselves along the lines of the type of game they were such as action, adventure and role-playing for example.

1990s
While the 1980s were the era of the arcade game, the 1990s was the time of the home console. As well as advances in home consoles, games also started to take off for the home PC. Innovation in the 1990s saw gaming move towards being more lifelike with the use of 3D graphics.

2000 onwards
Since 2000 gaming continues to evolve and adapt making the most of the technology available. In the consoles market gaming has seen the emergence of key players like Sony and Microsoft. For the players, there are a broad range of devices, including your smartphone or tablet, available. People who were not previously interested in gaming can get now get involved thanks to all of the different devices available.

The future of gaming is unknown but with the advancements in VR technology and display technology it is worth keeping a watch on them.